Whether, Luis?


Thanks for letting us know where Assemblyman Alejo’s allegiance lies (“State styrofoam ban fails; Alejo ducks vote,” posted Sept. 6). Alejo’s accepting a contribution from a styrofoam producer, then abstaining from voting on the styro ban, reminds me of the first time I learned that legislators often don’t represent the will of the people at all.


The first time I learned that was when then State Sen. Henry Mello voted against the bottle bill back in 1980. I was amazed! I called his office and asked his aide how many of Mello’s constituents were in favor of the bottle bill that he had voted against. The answer? Senator Mello’s constituents were overwhelmingly in favor of the bottle bill. “Then why didn’t he cast his vote in favor of it?” I asked. Dead silence from the aide.


I was shocked. Of course, more than 30 years later, I am no longer shocked by legislators voting (or abstaining) in favor of the interests of campaign contributors and lobbyists. Sad, but not shocked. - StrawberryLover | via Web


Time to rethink his new chairmanship. He was bought out by a special interest and missed the bigger picture regarding blight and litter caused by styrofoam. - Bkblogstoday | via Web


Was there any attempt to contact Mr. Alejo? Would have been good to know the reason for him avoiding this vote. - LRG | via Web


(Editor’s note: Several Weekly staffers attempted to speak with Mr. Alejo about his vote. For more, please see this week’s LocalSpin.)


Sharing is Caring


If you work normal hours (until around 6pm), most of these happy hours are useless (“Twelve Pack of Monterey County Happy Hours [Oh Hell Yes],” posted Sept. 6). There are much better deals out there (seriously, $1 off is not happy hour), and have later hours, but since I don’t want them to get packed, my lips are sealed. - NeonFlashlight | via Web


Here Kitty Kitty


Calling the Dennis the Menace train “playground equipment” is like calling a mountain lion a house cat (“Squid Fry,” Sept. 6-12). The train is piece of history that has been touched by big-eyed children for decades. It isn’t playground equipment and shouldn’t be considered playground equipment. It is a link to our past and provides children (and some adults even) a place to make concrete connections with the world we live in. 


Should there be special considerations or precautions taken when near the train? Of course, but denying the chance for hands-on experience is criminal. Trying to fence off the train is just another example of how our leadership has lost contact with their constituents and are hiding behind bureaucracy so no one will realize they have been emasculated by the fear of losing their job or their power. 


Let me let you in on a secret. If this you think fencing off the world one train at a time will keep everyone safe from harm, then you have already given away whatever power you had and are just collecting a paycheck. - MontereyMan | via Web


Fruits and Nuts


(“Haiku contest: Put produce now at its peak into a poem and win,” posted Sept. 5.)


If juicy flesh were / But an adjective for fruit / Pears would be divine. - Elise Billingsley | via Facebook


Canned fresh tomatoes / Feels like summer all winter / Sunshine in a jar. - Staci Beck Giovino | via Facebook


Deep brown, grassy green / Figs, ripe from the summer sun / Are plump and ready. - Camilla Mann | via Facebook


warm wind, scent lingers / lips wet with dripping sugar / the peach is my love - Bryan Flores | via Facebook


They’re yellow, they’re red / green and in full bloom / The ripe tomato heirloom. - Dita Baila | via Facebook


Pluots are my star / Who knew the blend of such tastes / would rule my fruit world? - Candy Myers-Owen | via Facebook


Slicing into you / The crack of the rind, splits open / Watermelon love. - Zoe Rife Roach | via Facebook 


Rough red strawberries / Push through smooth gray plastic / So delicious. - Jayanti Addleman | via Facebook 


Howdy, Neighbor


All houses are overpriced (“The feds won’t do it, and neither will the banking industry. So why is a plan that could help local homeowners and reset the economy ticking off so many people?” Aug. 23-29). The government and business scams to limit housing and encourage feudalism rather than landowning masses. I don’t see how the mortgage bailout of freeloaders will help me.


I bought a Salinas residence in 1989, not as an investment, as a home. Yet, I pay more property tax than most of my neighbors. I received a minor break on my outrageous taxes thanks to some devaluation of property values, but the government and businesses continued scams to raise property taxes. A few houses are sold each year at inflated prices to overtax poor me in spite of the foreclosures, which I notice about half had very low property taxes. The owners must have borrowed money on home equity to party.


What would help me is to abolish property tax and income tax and let freeloaders fend for themselves. - W.L. McAtee | Salinas


Engineer the Vote


It is all about our right, as consumers in a free country, to know and to choose (“Industry pumps cash into campaign against GMO labeling law,” posted Aug. 15). 


Information and choice. Monsanto and the rest of the biotech industry may keep on artificially inserting DNA of foreign organisms, viruses and bacteria into crops to make them resistant to chemicals that will then be sprayed on them. We are just asking for labeling, so we are informed and can choose what we wish to eat. Right to know and freedom of choice, as American as can be. That is all that Prop. 37 requires: labeling. Labeling of artificial genetic engineering of food done in the lab.


Food is already labeled as kosher, gluten-free, sugar-free, etc., and there are labels to warn consumers about potential allergens. Prop. 37 will not increase the cost of food nor create litigation. It will inform people with allergies and health concerns. We have the right to know what we eat. Please vote YES on Prop. 37 in November. - Mabelle Lernoud | Monterey